Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed the need for reforming China's rural supply and marketing cooperatives to contribute to the advancement of rural revitalization.

In a recent instruction on the sector's work, Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, urged the country's supply and marketing cooperatives to stay true to their fundamental purpose of serving agriculture, rural areas and rural people.

As a major force in China's rural and agricultural development, the network of supply and marketing cooperatives serves as a key platform for the distribution of agricultural products in China's rural areas.

The network also plays an important role for supporting farmers' lives and production as the main circulation channel of goods and commodity in rural areas and villages. 

Cooperatives across the country have deepened reforms and contributed a lot to promoting the development of modern agriculture, increasing rural income and boosting integrated urban-rural development, Xi said. 

He stressed the importance of improving the work of cooperatives and prioritizing the modernization of agriculture and rural areas.

The 7th Congress of the All China Federation of Supply and Marketing Cooperatives opened Thursday in Beijing. 

Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, gave an instruction regarding cooperatives. 

Li called on the cooperatives to implement the decisions and plans of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council and keep advancing reform and innovations. 

(With input from Xinhua)